Game 14, 2025-26: at Eastern Michigan (12/30)

[MikeUMA]

First MAC road trip coming up this week. Deep dive on EMU...

MAC member since: 1972

MAC titles, regular season (outright or divisional): 5, last 2012
MAC tournament (began in 1980) titles: 4, last 1998

NCAA Tournament (D-I) appearances: 4, 3-4 record
Last bid: 1998 (lost in First Round)
Farthest run: Sweet Sixteen in 1991
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... higan/men/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_M ... basketball

Current coach: Stan Heath (5th season)
Long resume includes tenures at Arkansas, South Florida, and as assistants at BC and Michigan State (2000 natty)
Was also Kent State's coach in 2001-02 when he crushed it to an Elite Eight appearance, and immediately parlayed that to the Arkansas job.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/co ... ath-1.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Heath

EMU's last 4 seasons (all under Heath):
2021-22: 10-21 / 5-15 (11th in MAC, DNQ for tourney)
2022-23: 8-23 / 5-13 (10th, DNQ)
2023-24: 13-18 / 6-12 (10th, DNQ)
2024-25: 16-16 / 9-9 (7th, lost in MAC Tourney quarters)

Heath has not faced Frank Martin or UMass in general before.

UMass is 3-0 all time against EMU.
First was in 1972, which was EMU's first in D-I. Jack Leaman got that win.
When UM football flirted with the MAC in the 2010s, EMU was one of the teams our men's hoop got. We swept the two games in the 2012-13 and 13-14 seasons.
https://umasshoops.com/wiki/doku.php?id ... n_michigan

THIS SEASON
EMU is 6-7 / 0-1
They picked up a Quad 2 win at Cincinnati on 11/26, 64-56. Other than that, they're 0-1 against Q2 (78-66 loss at Pitt), 1-2 vs Q3, 3-1 vs Q4, and 1-0 against non-D1.
Against the MAC so far: 93-72 loss at title contender Akron.
Last game: 70-64 loss at Wright State (Horizon)
Current NET: 189 (we are 186)
Pre-season MAC poll: 9th (of 13)
Top players: Mohammad Habhab (6-9 205 So F, 14.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Carlos Hart (6-6 210 Sr G, 13.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.0 apg), Addison Patterson (6-6 195 Sr G, 11.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg). Habhab played for Tony Barbee last season at CMU before the intra-conference transfer. Hart was JuCo, then New Orleans last season. Patterson started his college career in 2019 and has quite the journey.

[vanmeter]

Thanks for the recap Mike

[MikeUMA]

Schools' game notes are also out
https://umassathletics.com/news/2025/12 ... esday-tilt
https://emueagles.com/news/2025/12/28/m ... ion-friday

EMU says Friday in their release, but that's an error.

[Floyd]

Seems like we've had more than a few long spells between games this year.

[Juice Stand]

^ Definitely, but not anymore, Floyd. From here on out, we're playing basketball. Let's start off on the right foot with a W and get this thing rolling. It'll be a challenge as our first true road game of the year.

[bobolink]

NET rankings: UMass 187, EMU 189; given the home court advantage, likely EMU wins, and they are 4-1 at home
KenPom rankings: UMass 172, EMU 207; leans towards a UMass win

[devildawg3010]

Thanks Mike for breaking down these teams I don't know anything about.

As a fan I prefer a game every 3-4 days. These 5+ plus day breaks are brutal for me. We have one more 7 day break btw sun belt challenge 2/7 and Akron 2/14.

Don't know what to expect with E. Michigan but seems like a level opponent for us based on what others have posted. Hopefully they show up and raise the bar.

Crazy this is our first true road game.

[69MG]

No detailed scouting report. For me, it's just about a must win. We have Bowling Green coming in on Saturday and they are one of the best MAC teams. I would hate to see us start 0-3.

2 players we need to pay attention to. Habhab (6'9) is their best player at 15 points and 8 rebounds a game. Hart (6'5) averages 13 points, 5 boards and is a 41% shooter from three. He went for 32 points 2 games ago against Akron.

That's it. Make 3's, rebound, come out with a lot of energy and make your free throws. Nothing new here.

[Floyd]

As a fan I prefer a game every 3-4 days. These 5+ plus day breaks are brutal for me. We have one more 7 day break btw sun belt challenge 2/7 and Akron 2/14.

I'm with ya ddawg. It's like separate seasons

[inthescoop]

UMass are +1.5 point underdogs
Over/under is 148.5

[Juice Stand]

I'll be really interested to see how Marcus Banks plays tonight. Kent St bottled him up, and he also didn't get free against UMass Boston, so that's two games in a row where he's struggled to get open shots. The staff needs to put their thinking caps on and find ways to create space for him.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

7:30pm tonight, streaming via ESPN+/Hulu.

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

Important game for UMass to show they are a top echelon MAC team, and the kind of game UMass needs to get used to winning if the MAC move is going to be a success in the coming years. Between holidays @ Eastern Michigan feels like a slog, which is what I assume MAC road basketball usually is.

[69MG]

UMass are +1.5 point underdogs
Over/under is 148.5

The line has flipped and we are now favored by 2.5. It appears that a lot of $$ went on UMass getting 1.5 so they had to adjust to get more $$ on EMU. I saw one other explanation that mentioned that the books know who the sharps are and if they see most of them going in 1 direction it causes them to shift the line. I'm sure there are many of you who understand betting better than I do so I'd be interested in hearing what you know.

[inthescoop]

UMass are +1.5 point underdogs
Over/under is 148.5

The line has flipped and we are now favored by 2.5. It appears that a lot of $$ went on UMass getting 1.5 so they had to adjust to get more $$ on EMU. I saw one other explanation that mentioned that the books know who the sharps are and if they see most of them going in 1 direction it causes them to shift the line. I'm sure there are many of you who understand betting better than I do so I'd be interested in hearing what you know.

I also thought that we should be favorites from the get-go. Nice to see the flip!